It is known to employ paperboard carriers which grip the top portions of cans so that the cans are suspended from a support panel. One such carrier design consists of a top panel spaced from a bottom support panel by short side panels, with the tops of the cans located in the space between the top and bottom panels. The cans are introduced to the carrier through apertures in the bottom panel and typically are held in place by support tabs which extend up from the bottom panel to engage the underside of the can chimes. Finger openings in the top panel enable the carrier to be lifted and carried.
A problem with such clip-type carriers is that despite the presence of a top panel and side panels, it is primarily the support tabs of the bottom panel which support the cans, which requires the paperboard used to form the carrier to be of substantial thickness or caliper. In addition, although the support tabs at least partially engage the upper side portions of the cans, they do not normally tightly grip the sides of the cans, leaving it primarily to the ends of the support tabs to actually support the weight of the cans.
It would be desirable to strengthen clip-type carriers to make the carriers better able to support heavy beverage cans. In the past this has been difficult to do without substantially increasing the cost of the carrier as a result of making the carrier from paperboard of greater caliper or adding an additional ply to the bottom panel. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a can clip carrier with increased ability to support heavy loads without increasing the cost of the carrier.